Black tank question

[twogypsies]

If you burn TP think of the next person using that firepit in case it all doesn't burn. Some people cook their food over a firepit. Bag your TP and put it in a dumpster.

As volunteers you would not believe what people put in the firepits that we had to clean out. Dirty diapers is one of them.

[Kurtsara]

Originally Posted by twogypsies

If you burn TP think of the next person using that firepit in case it all doesn't burn. Some people cook their food over a firepit. Bag your TP and put it in a dumpster.

As volunteers you would not believe what people put in the firepits that we had to clean out. Dirty diapers is one of them.

Instead of bagging it why not do what most of Americans do, flush it.

That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard of not flushing toilet paper, the toilets are designed for it, we have never used RV toilet paper and never had a problem.

[Captn John]

Started camping in a TT in 1976. Wife and 2 daughters for a long time. Always flushed TP. Always add water and an additive. Never had a tank or valve problem. Saving TP is disgusting, burning in the fire pit more so! Put it where the doggie doo goes, in a dumpster, or just collect it at home.

[sbleiweiss]

For the writer who described Costco toilet paper as thick and luxurious, we were just at Costco (buying Costco paper) and I compared the Costco paper to the Charmin paper right next to it. The rolls looked about the same dimension. Costco rolls had 400+ sheets per roll. Charmin had 200+ sheets per roll. So Charmin was almost twice as thick as Costco. We use Costco but I'd hardly describe it as thick.

[Reed Cundiff]

We spend 3 to five months RVing in Mexico. All the RV parks we have stayed in emphatically state TP should not be flushed into their septic tank systems. It took some getting used to.

[cavie]

Originally Posted by Kurtsara

Instead of bagging it why not do what most of Americans do, flush it.

That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard of not flushing toilet paper, the toilets are designed for it, we have never used RV toilet paper and never had a problem.

[twogypsies]

Originally Posted by Reed Cundiff

We spend 3 to five months RVing in Mexico. All the RV parks we have stayed in emphatically state TP should not be flushed into their septic tank systems. It took some getting used to.

.... and that's fine & other countries do the same . . . . but .... PLEASE don't burn it in firepits that others will use for perhaps grilling their dinner. Dispose of it properly in a dumpster.

Along the same.... when folks use the portable toilets in public parks, please don't throw trash down there or plastic bags. The companies emptying the toilets have a heck of a time when there are trash bags down there. (When one volunteers you see a lot behind the scenes)

[oatmeal]

Originally Posted by Magic Bus II

No TP in the tank makes a huge difference in volume

How much toilet paper are you using?? If you set a roll of toilet paper alongside a gallon container of water, you'll see that the toilet paper isn't even half the volume of the water.

Or you can do the math. I have a roll of toilet paper here that is 4-1/2" in diameter and 4" tall. That's 64 cubic inches (actually less, since it doesn't take into account the hole in the middle). A gallon of water has 231 cubic inches. So a roll of toilet paper is the same in volume as about a quart of water. In your 40-gallon tank, that's less than 1% of its capacity.

Originally Posted by sbleiweiss

For the writer who described Costco toilet paper as thick and luxurious, we were just at Costco (buying Costco paper) and I compared the Costco paper to the Charmin paper right next to it. The rolls looked about the same dimension. Costco rolls had 400+ sheets per roll. Charmin had 200+ sheets per roll. So Charmin was almost twice as thick as Costco. We use Costco but I'd hardly describe it as thick.

I've never tested toilet paper, but with paper towels, there are huge variations in how tightly "rolled" they are. If they're loosely rolled, you'll have fewer sheets per roll, but not necessarily because each sheet is thicker--the total size of the roll could be bigger because of the air between the loosely rolled sheets.

[cavie]

Originally Posted by Itinerant1

Size matters, what size is the tank?

Our 62 gallon black tank can get almost 3 weeks with 2.

As far the yellow mello thing, turn your pump off flush it down, use a small amount of water that you washed the dishes with to clean the bowl if you wish.

Use a full bowl of water to flush it down every time (except pee) just like at home to avoid a poo pile in the tank!

[TXiceman]

With our 50 gallon black tank, we can usually make 2 weeks for the two of us. You do not want to skimp om the the water in a black tank.

We use a blue tote, but only for gray water.

Ken

[cavie]

Originally Posted by Kurtsara

Instead of bagging it why not do what most of Americans do, flush it.

That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard of not flushing toilet paper, the toilets are designed for it, we have never used RV toilet paper and never had a problem.

Agreed. No TP in tank and burning it in the fire is disgusting, archaic, barbaric, so 3rd world, and just plain stupid.

Ben full timing 4 months a year for 4 years and never have a problem with the black water. 2 people 8 days, 50 Gallon tank. 42 gal tote. Flush the paper. No poo piles. 5 gals water after dumping. Camco orange tabs after dumping.

No driving around to clean tank. In permanent site. No Black water flush. They didn't have that in 2002. Have on on my new to me 2011 but don't use it.

[Renipladlo]

Well, we just got new MH, and it has a macerator toilet. Reading the book on it (never owned one of this type before) it has two different bowl fill settings, one "normal" is .85 gal fill the bowl, the other is "dry bowl" and is .45 gal flush. When we are in park, most likely going to use the .85 flush, but if traveling and boondocking the other one. Yes, get a plastic tub, and wash dishes in that, and then use that water for toilet flush water. Now our gray is 65 gallons the black is 45 gallons, being as I am old man, it takes us about 4-5 days before anything shows up on the black tank gauge then it fills quite rapidly about 5-10% increase daily. Have never had it over 40-50% in our trip home. Not sure how accurate that gauge is, but the toilet will stop working if the tank is full, and warn us with a yellow light when at 75% full. So we have some learning to do. Everyone is different, you may choose to water the plants as it were to mitigate the use of the toilet, or if possible, use public systems. You will just have to experiment and see how it works out for you.

[freestyle_freddy]

Very few responses seem to answer your main question of how many gal. per day per person. We have 70 gal grey & 70 gal black in our fifth wheel. We're a normal fulltime couple in our 70's & we use between 2 & 2.5 gal per day per person in our black tank. We rarely use park bathrooms or showers because of our large waste capacities. Also, since I have a built-in macerator, I can pump waste up into my large 35 gal waste tote in my truck & haul it as far as I need to to dispose of it. I also have a 90 gal vinyl fresh water bladder, so I can refill my fresh water tank anytime I need to. In our grey tank, we use around 5.5 to 6 gal per day per person when we're not boondocking & around 4 gal when we are conserving/boondocking. We do not put paper in the black tank & we don't save shower water to use in the black tank. Hope this helps.

[Captn John]

We have 2 40 gallon black and 2 40 gallon gray tanks. Only 60 gallon of fw.

Those that don't flush tp should labor each bag with where -not who- it came from. Set it on a shelf and recall the memories with guests. Just think bringing out the bag of poo paper and talking about your trip to the mountains 15 years from now. Maybe even point out kernels and recall the corn roast.